Rolling shutter.



W. H. BARRY & T. E. COLLINS. ROLLING SHUTTER.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 21, 1914.

l 268, 9 l 4. Patented June 11, 191.8.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

@m 2 5% s? S ILM MLLLL @E o Q 7 W. H. BARRY 6I T. E. COLLINS. ROLLINGASHUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 19M.v

1,2689 l 4.. v Patented June 11, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- "WALTER H. BARRY AND THOMAS E. COLLINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ROLLING SHUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented QI une itil, 19H8..

Application" led May 27, 1914. Serial No. 841,241.

ments in Rolling Shutters, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,A forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to rolling shutters such as are employed in warehousesv and in connection with elevator shafts, and similar places, to close large doorways and similar openings. More particularly, our invention relates to that class of rolling shutters which are commonly called lire doors and which are generally made of metal and with which'vv automatic heat responsive means is provided to close the door when'a certain degree of temperature has been created so that, in case of flre, these large openings may be closed automatically and quickly to prevent injurious drafts.

We are aware that automatically closed doors are old in the art and we make no claim to that broad feature, but our invention is concerned with the control of such.' doors so as to preserve them against injurious shocks which might be incurred in the automatic closing of the door or in careless manual handling thereof.

Our invention has to do with the type of door which operates broadly on the principle of the rolling shade, that is, a metallic curtain is wound upon a roller and may be drawn down manually, preferably against the tension of a spring. When the time comes for the automatic closing of the door,a weight is released and is immediately applied to the curtain ,with the idea of drawlng it down. Unless some means is provided to counteract the drop of the curtain, it will be ,subj ected to a very severe shock when it reaches the floor, which is not onl disturbing, but may be so injurious. as to estroy the hanging of the curtain, resulting in an open instead of a closed passageway and defeating the very purpose of the automatic release. Furthermore,lour invention is useful outside of its utility in connection with the automatic operation, since rough handling by ignorant persons in throwing down the curtain too quickly or too vigorously frequently results in the injuries above pomted out in.

addition to the natural disturbance of the noise caused by the impact with the floor,

Therefore,'our invention consists in the provision of an organization of elements, including a certain kind of rolling curtain, means for controlling its operation, and of governing means which acts more or less effectively, depending upon the speed with which the curtain is lowered, and it will be evident thatI this is of peculiar and special value in connection with the shock means which has been described, since in the case of such opera-tion no one ispresent lto give the attention necessary to prevent the injurious operation.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the door of our invention, parts being broken away to reveal the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view taken from the left of FigQL;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view taken from the right of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an isolated sectional view taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a view taken on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow; and v Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 6, 6 of Fig. 5 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

rlhe wall is illustrated at 'Z' and the door curved wall 10, form the casing for the shutter. V

A composite shaft comprisin 0 the parts 11 and 12 is mounted in aliningbbearings in the side frames 9, 9, and the drum upon i". which the curtain is mounted is journaled ri upon this composite shaft. This drum 13 comprises the end bushings 14 and 15, as j clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The end bushing 14 is mounted to rotate upon the shaft i portion 11, while the end bushing 15 is mounted to rotate with the shaft portion 12 ,if by means of the key 16. A collar 17 is se- Tf1-32 cured to the shaft portion 11 inside of the tf drum and a helical spring 18, surrounding ff. the shaft, is secured to this collar and to the bushing 14, as illustrated. The curtain, .ji which is made flexible in one direction for rolling purposes, comprises a multiplicity of metallic sections 19, 19, which are hinged together, and is secured to the drum by means of the 'screws 20, 20. The curtain is rolled upon the drum and leaves the drum at the rear so as to extend downwardly into the horizontal guideways 21, 21 in the form of channels extending to and secured alongside the doorway.

The outer end of the' shaft portion 11 is provided with a tension adjusting disk"`22, which may be held in any adjusted position by means of a pin 23 ex tending through a lug on the disk and through a bracket 24 secured to the corresponding side frame 9. It will now be seen that by properly turning the disk 22 so as to put the helical spring under tension the proper force may be stored in the spring to hold the curtain in its raised position. `When the curtain is drawn down, as will be described presently, the spring 18 counteracts part of the weight thereof, incidentally increasing as the effective weight thereof increases, so that it' becomes possible for a person to manipulate the 'door without difliculty.

A heavy bar 25 'which is mounted to be guided upon vertical rods 26, 26 in the channel guideways 27, 27, is normally supported by means of hooks 28, 28, which engage with lugs 29, 2 9 on a shaft 30, mounted in suitable bearings in the end frames 9, 9. At the left-hand outer end of this shaft 30, a lever 31 is mounted, this lever having a head 32 under which one arm 33 of a bell crank lever engages, the other arm 34 of this bell crank lever having secured thereto a iiexible strand 35, which passes over a hook 36 on the opposite end frame and then passes into an eye 37 secured in the ceiling. The bell crank lever is pivoted at 38 in a bracket 39 suitably secured to the left end frame 9. The

strand has interposed therein two fuses 40 and 41, it being understood that if either of these fuses melts, the strand will be broken so as to release the bell crank lever, thus releasing the lever 31 and allowing the shaft 30 to turn so that the weight 25 may drop. `When the weight 25 drops, it comes into contact with a bracket 42 secured to a plate 43 which, in turn, is secured to the bottorn of the curtain. This weight then immediately overcomes the tension of the spring 18 andquickly draws down the curtain as far as the floor. When the curtain is in its raised position, the bracket 42 engages the under side of the overhead beam so as to determine the normal position of the curtain.

The outer end of the shaft portion 12 lis provided with agear 43 which meshes with a pinion 44 mounted upon a stud set in the end frame 9. A gear 45 rotates with the pinion 44 and the gear 45 meshes with an.- other pinion 46 with which a sprocket wheel l47 rotates, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. The

pinion 46 and the sprocket 47 are secured 'upon the shaft 48 which extends through the frame 9 and axially into the governor drum 49 which is secured to the inner face of the frame 9 by means of bolts 50, 50 passing through lugs 51, 51.

Within the governor drum 49, the shaft 48 isb provided with a cross-arm 52, to each end of which a swinging shoe 53 is pivoted at 54. This swinging shoe is provided with a surface which is disposed near the pivot 54 and which is ofv such conformation that when the shoe as a whole is swung about the pivot, this surface 5 5 will be substantially coincident with the inner surface of the drum 49. This surface 55 is provided with ay cover 56 of friction material', such as leather. The shoe member 53 extends somewhat parallel to the cross-arm 52, so yas to form a compact arrangement within thedrum 49, and the free end of the shoe is provided with a weight 56 so that, when the shaft 48 is turned, the rubbing effect of thesurface 56 on the inside of the drum 49` will `be greatly magnified. The centrifugal effect, of course, throws the weights out and the fact that the shoe lies between the pivot and the weight secures a very effective mechanical advantage. Normally, the shoe 53 is held close to the member 52 by means of a helical spring 57 connecting the two parts,. this normal position being determined by -means of an abutment 58 on the shoe 53 engaging the side of the cross-piece 52. Tt will be noted that, as the speed ofthe shaft 48 increases, the greater will be the rubbing effect of the surface 56 on the inside of the drum 49 and, in this way, the resistance to the turning of the shaft 48 will increase as the speed tends to increase. thus forms a check upon the speed of the shaft 48 and it becomes impossible to-rotate the shaft beyond a certain speed since the resistance which it encounters proportionately opposes the movement. 4

i The sprocket 47 is provided with an operating chain 59 and it will now appear that the shutter can be operated manually by using this operating chain. If the chain is operated too fast the governor will prevent the response of the shutter and the speed of the curtain as it lowers will be limited in this way.

When, in case of increased temperature, the bell crank lever is released so as to release the weight which has been referred to, the weight will strike the bracket on the bottom of the curtain and will tend to bring it down very quickly. This action is effectively controlled by means of the governor, since the natural acceleration as the curtain descends is opposed by the'proportionate increase in the rubbing and resistance effect inthe governor." ln this way, the resistance to the downward movement of the curtain The governor rot mesma is very small at the start when` the movement is slow, but is gradually increased as the speed of the curtain increases and When the curtain nears the floor, the resistance has become so great that the contact With the floor is a very gentle one.

We employ the termcentrifugal governor or centrifugal brake with the understanding that it represents a brake or governor in Which the friction is proportional to an exponential function of the speed of the moving part or parts. That is to say, We consider as an equivalent a brake or governor which Will increase the friction at a greater rate than the increase of speed causing it.

YVe claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. In combination, a rotatable member, a rolling shutter mounted on said member to be Wound thereon and unwound therefrom, a spring counteracting the unwinding rotation of said member substantially to balance said curtain in its normal wound, unwound or partially unwound condition, a centrifugal governor comprising a stationary drum vand outwardly flying'brake shoes for frictional engagement `with said drum, said brake shoes being arranged for rotation with said rotatable member but being normally inoperative to secure braking action, and means for applying an excess load to the curtain to overbalance the spring, said brake shoes engaging said drum to secure braking action in the abnormal condition in Which the spring is overbalanced by the excess load.

2. In combination, a rotatable member, a rolling shutter mounted on said member to be Wound thereon and unwound therefrom, a spring counteracting the unwinding rotation of said member substantially to balance said curtain in its normal Wound, unwound, or partially unwound condition, a centrifugal governor comprising a stationary drurn and outwardly flying brake shoes for frictional engagement with said drum, said brake shoes being arranged for rotation with said rotatable member but being normally inoperative to secure braking action, a Weight for addition to the curtain to4 overbalance the spring, and means for automatically controlling the application of said Weight to said curtain, said brake shoes engaging said drum to secure braking action in the abnormal condition in which the spring is overbalanced by the application of said Weight to said curtain.

3. In combination, a rotatable member, a rolling shutter mounted on said member to be Wound thereon and unWound therefrom, a spring counteracting the unwinding rotation of said member substantially to'balance said curtain in its normal Wound, unwound or partially unwound condition, a centrifugal governor comprising a stationary drum and outwardly flying brake shoes for frictional engagement with said drum, said brake shoes being arranged for rotation with said rotatable member but being normally inopc'ative to secure braking action, av

weight for addition to the curtain to overfbalance the spring, and heat responsive means for normallyT preventing the application of said weight to said curtain and for automatically releasing said Weight for application thereof to said curtain, said brake shoes engaging said drum to secure braking action in the abnormal condition in Which the spring is overbalanced by the application of said Weight to said curtain.

ln Witness whereof, We hereunto subscribe our names, this 22nd day of May, 1914. WALTER H. BARRY. THOMAS E. CULLINS. Witnesses for both:

LESLIE W. FRIGKE, ERNEST W. RAPALEE. 

